The Bakersfield Voice Sep. 11, 2011 by Mercado Nuevo

The Bakersﬁeld Voice Sunday, September 11, 2011

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YOUR VOICE

MS Society keeps people ‘on the move’ M BY CHRISTINE GRONTKOWSKI Community contributor

ultiple sclerosis (MS) stops people from moving. But the National MS Society, Southern California & Nevada Chapter, is doing its part to keep people with the disease on the move with a program coming up in the fall. The Kern County office is bringing a leading MS specialty neurologist to Bakersfield on Saturday, September 17 as part of “On the Move,” which helps kick off Walk MS 2011. Dr. Barbara Giesser will be the featured presenter at the program to sort through the new developments in MS treatments and symptom management, and to answer any questions related to multiple sclerosis. Dr. Giesser specializes in MS patient care, is the Clinical Director of UCLA MS Clinical Services, and is the Medical Director for The Marilyn Hilton MS Achievement Center at UCLA. Dr. Giesser is also involved in several other clinical and research activities, including research on how exercise affects cognition in MS. Besides learning about the latest in MS research and trends, attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about and register for Bakersfield’s Walk MS coming up on October 22. The event helps fund local programs and services to improve the quality of lives for people with MS and their families, along with cutting-edge research worldwide. “On the Move” will be held Saturday, September 17 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 3625 Marriott Dr. The program is free and includes a continental breakfast. Pre-registration is required. To sign up or receive more information, please call 321-9512 or email christine.grontkowski@nmss.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and it stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.1 million worldwide.

PROVIDED PHOTO:

Kim Kotrla, Fotini Alﬁeris and Christine Grontkowski volunteer at an event to raise funds and awareness for multiple sclerosis. The local Multiple Sclerosis Society's next fundraising event will be Walk MS on Saturday, Oct. 22.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In

2010 alone, through our national office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted $159 million to programs and services that improved the lives of more than one million people. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested $37 million to sup-

port 325 new and ongoing research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. Join the movement at nationalMSsociety.org.

YOUR VOICE

YOUR SCHOOLS

Mothers gain support, friendship at MOPS

CSUB opens more child care services

BY MELISSA WILFORD Community contributor

remember the joy I felt bringing my brand new baby home from the hospital — but I was also anxious. Not very many of my friends had children yet and I was forging along (as I felt it) alone. Soon I yearned for adult conversation between burpings and diaper changes. But

most of all, I wanted other women to talk to, ones who felt my fears and concerns. I needed to know I was not alone in the crazy thing called motherhood. I found what I was looking for in MOPS or “mother's of preschoolers.” MOPS is a faith-based organization and is: “a place to find friendship, community, resources and support for you as a woman and mother so you’re not alone.”

I would recommend joining to any stay at home mom! If you are interested in joining the Laurelglen Bible Church MOPS group you can find information and registration forms at: www. laurelglen.org. We meet the third Thursday of every month for a kid-free breakfast and fellowship. I hope to see you there!

MEET THE CONTRIBUTOR

MS advocate ﬁnds hope after personal loss Through tragedy, Christine Grontkowski found hope. She found hope for herself, hope for her family, and hope for the people of Bakersfield who suffer from multiple sclerosis. Grontkowski, through her work with the local MS Society, is a frequent contributor to The Bakersfield Voice. This is what this young mother of two and MS advocate has to say about herself:

When she is not working to raise awareness for MS, Christine Grontkowski spends time with her daughters, Madison and Morgan Grontkowski.

“I

had what I thought was everything a girl could dream of having — a husband, two daughters, a dog, a house, a good-paying job working only two days a week. On April 13, 2007 (Friday the 13th, if that matters at all), my world came crashing down. That is when I lost my husband to a heart attack. I was at a loss; I had no idea what to do. I quit my job to go back to school — but even then had absolutely no focus. I was working on my teaching credential, my authorization to teach math, and my master's degree in public administration. Who knew in the midst of this tragedy, I would find some good? While working on my master's degree, I was “required” to complete an internship. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society had an opening. I had no clue what multiple sclerosis (MS) even was, but I knew I had a neighbor down the street who had it, and she made frequent doctor visits and even had to have the ambulance come to her home in the middle of the night. It was a paid internship, so I said sure, why not. That neighbor was just one friend. Pretty soon, I knew hundreds of people with MS, whom I now consider to be friends. Through them, I see the unpredictability of the

disease. I hear their stories — of one day being able to drive, the next barely being able to see; of one day being able to walk, the next being numb from the waist down. Some people also have problems with speech, fatigue and cognition. The internship has turned into a full-time position. But this is more than just a job. With all of these friends, this is personal. That's why I carry so much passion to do all that I can, through the National MS Society, to bring programs and services to people with MS and their families here in Kern County, in order to improve their quality of lives.

COURTESY OF CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD SUB students with children now have more choices for child care while they are attaining their college degrees. The CSUB Children’s Center has partnered with two nearby elementary schools — Old River and Laurelglen — to offer pre-school to children ages 3 to 5. The new programs opened Aug. 22 at both locations and will serve a total of 85 children. Priority goes to children of CSUB students first, followed by staff and faculty. Any remaining openings may be filled by members of the community. “The Children’s Center expanded to the two sites due to the high demand for our services,” said Gladys Garcia, who was hired in July as the new Director of the CSUB Children’s Center. “Our main campus is at max capacity in enrollment for the fall.” The two elementary school locations will operate from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and follow each school’s holiday schedule. Children must be potty trained, as they do not have the equipment necessary to accommodate children in diapers. The Laurelglen location has one classroom and the Old River location has two classrooms. Each room has one teacher and two teacher assistants. Both sites share play yards with the schools’ preschool programs for children with disabilities. The daily program provides the children with a wide range of fun and challenging activities designed to facilitate the children's physical-motor, social-emotional, intellectual and language development. These goals are achieved through providing learning experiences geared to the ability and readiness level of each child. For more information, rates and to enroll your child in the CSUB Children’s Center offsite programs, call 654-3165.

I devote time to raising money to fund those programs and to fund research for a cause, prevention and cure. None of that can happen without awareness, which is why I also continue to write my stories for The Bakersfield Voice. Many people might not even bother to open up the paper that hits their driveway every Sunday, but when I reach out to that one person who doesn't know about MS or that one person who has MS (but who had no idea there was an organization that can help them out so much) a couple of words on paper can change lives."

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